“We’re In Pretty Good Shape”

The Field Report

With the central Illinois prairie covered with snow, Trent sat down in his warm office to look back and ahead. 2018 “was a decent year, but not a record-breaker. We had good weather and good production, but the markets were not friendly.” Trent continued by observing that the federal government shutdown has stopped USDA crop reports so the markets have no current information about final yield figures, export sales, status of various inventories, and similar information which ordinarily moves the market. Without the current reports, the markets are in a holding pattern, unsure of direction.

June 2014 Farm Report

Crops are All Planted

Trent Brandenburg is happy his crops are all planted and growing well. His farming operations survived the high winds of earlier this week with no structural damage. The rainfall totals from the storm varied from five inches to less than an inch from farm to farm. “Pretty spotty'” he said. Generally Trent’s farms north of Cerro Gordo are a bit dry, while those to the south are too wet.

Trent had just finished replanting about 6 acres (total) of corn which had ponded, right before the rain ponded it again. “I think I will just let that go,” he said. Trent had some beans under water, but will wait a week to see if they grow out of it before trying to replant. He finished side-dressing and spraying just before the big rain. Now he will be mowing for a few days.